VK5 SOTA and Parks symposium

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On Sunday 9th March, 2014, the inaugural VK5 SOTA & Parks symposium was held at the Guides Hall at the location of the Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Club (AHARS) clubrooms at Blackwood.  A total of 32 people attended the symposium.  The pleasing aspect was that the majority of those attending had never activated a SOTA peak nor a National or Conservation Park.

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The day kicked off at 9.00 a.m. with a welcome by Tony VK5KAT, the President of AHARS.  The four pre morning tea presentations were as follows…..

  • An overview of SOTA’s progress in VK5 & VK overall – Ian VK5CZ
  • Tips for activators/hunters of the VK5 Parks Award – Larry VK5LY
  • Overview of World Wide Flora & Fauna (WWFF) – Paul VK5PAS
  • Using lithium phosphate chemistry batteries:a beginners perspective – John VK5BJE

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We enjoyed a morning tea break, and then further 5 presentations as follows…..

  • The failed attempts at an end fed wire antenna – Ian VK5CZ
  • SOTA for the beginner – Stu VK5STU
  • Spotting & alert programs – Nigel VK5NIG
  • What is prominence ? – Paul, VK5PAS
  • SOTA & Parks transceivers – John VK5BJE

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Following the presentations, there was a 20 minute question and answer session, and this was followed by the closure of the symposium by Tony VK5KAT.  We all then enjoyed a BBQ, kindly cooked by David VK5KC and Nigel VK5NIG.  Great job fellas.

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Attendees included the following…..

  1. Chris VK4FR/5
  2. David VK5AAH
  3. Steve VK5AIM
  4. John VK5BJE
  5. Doc VK5BUG
  6. Ian VK5CZ
  7. Andrew VK5CV
  8. John VK5EMI
  9. Charles VK5FBAC
  10. Rick VK5FGFK
  11. Louis VK5FLY
  12. Rex VK5FRCP
  13. Norm VK5GI
  14. Greg VK5GJ
  15. Graham VK5GW
  16. Gordon VK5GY
  17. Stef VK5HSX
  18. Tony VK5KAT
  19. David VK5KC
  20. Les VK5KLD
  21. Craig VK5LI
  22. David VK5LSB
  23. Larry VK5LY
  24. Nigel VK5NIG
  25. Roy VK5NRG
  26. Paul VK5PAS
  27. Paul VK5PH
  28. Stu VK5STU
  29. Trevor VK5TW
  30. Arno VK5ZAR
  31. Ian VK5ZIM
  32. Gerard VK5ZQV

I would like to say THANKYOU to the following, for helping me in preparing this successful day…..

  • David VK5KC & Nigel VK5NIG (BBQ)
  • David VK5KC & Roy VK5NRG & others (for setting up the hall).
  • the presenters…Ian VK5CZ, Nigel VK5NIG, Stu VK5STU, Larry VK5LY, & John VK5BJE.
  • Special thanks to Ian VK5CZ for travelling from Clare, and Larry VK5LY for travelling from Renmark.
  • John VK5EMI for the photographs.
  • My wife Marija, for shopping for morning tea & the BBQ.

And thank you to everyone that attended.  There was so much interest, that this is going to become an annual event.  Next year, we will most likely hold talks in both the AHARS clubrooms & the Guides Hall.  In the AHARS clubrooms we will have talks on the very basics of SOTA and the Parks Awards (for the beginners), and in the Guides Hall, we will have more specific presentations on a variety of topics.

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